Character Analysis: A Red Dress

There are many moments in a person’s lives that affect them, and change their mind set, sometimes for the better or worse. In the main character’s case in the short story “A Red Dress”, she went from not caring about self image and what she wore, to caring very much about it after realizing what the world thinks. But after more experiences, she realized that someone can still be loved no matter what the look like. As shown with her, overtime, one’s realization about how other people think of you can change who you are, until you realize it really doesn't matter.

When she was a little girl,she didn’t care what others thought, and she didn’t know how society was. “When I was younger, a flower organdie dress with a high Victorian neckline edged

in scratchy...I had worn these clothes with docility, even pleasure, in the days when I was unaware of the world’s opinion.” This was when she did not care, and did not have a realization about what others thought about how she looked. This was her very early child belief. But, she also had another way of viewing it, as an older child. “Now, grown wiser, I wished fo dresses like Lonnie’s.” This showed she had realized what others thought, and that people did judge what you wear and how you look. Lonnie had fancy nice dress, and that is what she longed for because she had the understanding it was important to look like that for people to like her.
As time went on, she had an experience that changed her mindset of thinking about the world and how people perceived her.

This change occurred when she went to the dance. “I took out the curlers in my hair..I applied face powder, zipped up my dress.” She had gotten all dressed up, because in her mind, dressing up would give her a better chance of being liked and maybe be asked to dance. However, when she gets to the dance she doesn’t get asked. Girls who were fat, had pimples, and poor girls all got danced with. This makes her very upset and she doesn’t understand why they got chosen to dance but not her. As she waits in the bathroom, one event leads to another and she smokes a cigarette with Mary Thomas, a popular upperclassmen. But as she is about to leave the dance with Mary to go get hot chocolate, something she thought wouldn’t happen, does. “It was Raymond Bolting from our class, whom I had never talked to in my life. He thought I meant yes. He put his hand on my waist and almost without meaning to, I began to dance.” Just as she thought she wouldn’t be danced with, she got to. This is when she realized you don’t have to look all good, and be all dressed up for someone to want to be with you, talk to you, or dance with you. At this time, her understanding of how people feel about you and think about you went back more similar to her first

understanding.
After dancing with Raymond Bolting, her change in mindset was shown. At the end of night how she felt about things had changed compared to the beginning of the night. “I have been to a dance and a boy has walked me home and kissed me. It was all true, my life was possible.” She realized that she doesn’t have to be all dressed up or impress the world for people to like her. She can just be who she is, and that’s all that matters. This was back to her similar belief as a child, not caring what others think as much. With this change, she got much happier again too, like she would be as a child, and she no longer had to stress so much about impressing people in society.

Just like the main character, through a person’s lifetime, the events they go through are what shape the way they perceive the world, and what others think of them. The events, no matter negative or positive, emotional or physical, are what cause people to change, and show their coming-of-age. This was shown through the main character in the Red Dress, and it can be seen throughout anyone’s life.